1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dripper for extracting coffee.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of drippers for extracting coffee have been available. Examples of those drippers include a dripper that has a generally fan-cylinder shape (conical shape) conformed to the shape of a commercial paper filer and has its bottom opened with at least one hole. With the dripper, a paper filter is set inside that dripper; the dripper is placed on a coffee cup, a coffee server, or similar; and coffee powder is put in the paper filter and hot water is then added, leading to coffee extraction. This kind of dripper is formed of a material with rigidity, such as metal, resin, or ceramic. Therefore, the dripper is difficult to store compactly, and carrying the dripper is awkward.
Also, a dripper with another configuration has been introduced in which: a stainless steel wire is wound spirally to form a generally conical cylinder shape to configure a paper filter receiving portion; and a paper filter is set inside the receiving portion for coffee extraction. In this dripper, the spiral receiving portion is flatly collapsed to have a plate shape for storage, but has the disadvantage of heavy weight because it is made of stainless steel. Also, the paper filter and the receiving portion do not fit well with each other, compared with the above-described generally conical cylinder shape dripper. Therefore, hot water may leak directly to the inside of a coffee cup from a gap between the paper filter and the receiving portion, leading to weak coffee.
Also, a paper dipper is given as an example of a dripper that can be stored compactly and can be carried conveniently, but the paper dripper is disposable. There is demand for a re-usable dripper from the viewpoint of environmental consciousness. In light of the above, a dripper has been introduced in which: a metal mesh is arranged at a bottom part of a generally fan-cylinder shape dripper; and coffee powder is directly put in the dripper and hot water is added, leading to coffee extraction. However, the dripper is difficult to store compactly, and carrying the dripper is awkward.
Moreover, a polypropylene coffee filter usable many times has been introduced in place of a conventional disposable paper filter. However, this coffee filter requires a separate dripper for supporting the coffee filter itself.
Furthermore, a filter rest for a coffee dripper has been introduced that can be carried conveniently and also fits well with a paper filter. The filter rest for the coffee dripper has a configuration in which: a tubular body composed of two receiving plates bendable along a prescribed part to form a through hole on its lower part and a filter insertion opening on its upper part is used; the tubular body is supported by a stand as appropriate; and the tubular body can be sandwiched in a plate-like case body that is bendable via a pivoted portion. The filter rest can be folded at the bendable position to be flat and carried in the flat state (see, e.g., JP10-216018 A).
However, the filter rest for a coffee dripper disclosed in JP10-216018 A can be folded to be flat for carrying, but needs to be carried while kept in the flat shape. Therefore, the filter rest requires a flat storage space. Also, the filter rest requires the use of a filter because the filter rest does not enable coffee extraction without the use of a filter such as a paper filter.